Langley resident Len Morris was walking his dog in the park near Topham Elementary school at 21555 91 Ave. on Saturday when he saw hateful language scrawled on the exterior wall of the school.

There was a swastika along with racist and sexist comments, badly spelled and written in a shaky hand with a permanent marker.

“It’s some really offensive stuff,” Morris said.

He reported the incident to the RCMP.

Morris said that kind of activity is abnormal for the quiet Walnut Grove neighbourhood where the school is based.

“I have not seen this before,” Morris said.

Langley RCMP Cpl. Holly Largy said the writing is believed to be the work of students at the school, based on the poor spelling and references to teachers, and the matter will be referred to the school principal to investigate.

School district spokesperson Joanne Abshire said the writing was covered up before students returned to classes on Monday.

“This type of incident will not be tolerated,” Abshire said.

“This does not reflect Topham Elementary or Langley.”

Abshire said the district deals with such situations on a “case-by-case” basis, but if a student or students is identified as the persons responsible, it could be handled with a “restorative action approach” that could include counselling or community service.

Topham Elementary currently enrolls approximately 350 students in 14 divisions, from kindergarten to Grade 7.

According to the Topham website, the “school community is composed of students from a variety of economic, social and cultural backgrounds.”

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